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| The Grand Turk |
| Turks detain 9 Kurd pols for criticizing Turkey |
| 2015-12-30 |
| [ARA] URFA – Turkish security arrested on Tuesday nine Kurdish politicians and members of the Democratic Peoples’ Party (HDP) in Izmir province. The Turkish authorities accused the HDP members of supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) –which is in conflict with the Turkish army in the Kurdish region southeast the country. Turkish state media reported that the arrested Kurdish politicians had raised pro-PKK slogans during a protest in Izmir. Dozens of HDP supporters protested in the western province of Izmir against the ongoing military campaign by the Turkish army troops across the Kurdish region. More than 10,000 Turkish army forces attacked the Kurdish towns of Cizre and Silopi in the southeastern province of Şırnak under the pretext of pursuing PKK rebels. The armed campaign has caused mass distraction in infrastructure and residential buildings in the targeted towns, leading to a mass displacement among Kurdish civilians after the death of dozens over the past two weeks. In the meantime, the Turkish government accused prominent Kurdish politician and leader of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, of “treason” for criticizing the military campaign against the Kurdish region, the Turkish involvement in the Syrian conflict and the downing of the Russian fighter jet over Syria. Demirtaş has earlier called for a Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey as a solution for the ongoing conflict in the country, a statement that has raised the government’s outrage and led to more constraints on the HDP’s activities. |
| Posted by:badanov |